I'll Be There For You
by ShootingFirework
Summary: When Troy gets sick and injured, Gabriella is there to help him. Used to be smvlothlver032308.....
1. Chapter 1

I'll Be There For You 

**When Troy gets sick and injured, Gabriella is there to help him.**

Troy Bolton was walking down the hall, towards the gym, when his girlfriend, Gabriella Montez, came up behind him and covered his eyes.

"Hey Gabby. How are you?" said Troy turning around and kissing her.

"I'm fine now. You have basketball practice today?"

"Yeah, that's where I am heading right now. Then after that, we've got play rehearsal. I will get to rehearsal as soon as possible. Hopefully, dad won't hold us over too long because we need our rest in order to do well in the state championship game on Friday and I have to get to rehearsal."

"Yep well I'll see you after practice. Be careful."

"You say that before every practice, I'll be fine."

"I'm just saying it to be nice and caring. I don't want you to hurt yourself because there are a lot of injuries possible in basketball."

"I know, I love listening to the same thing every day. We need to change up our routine, we do the same exact thing every day."

"Yeah, well I will see you after practice, at rehearsal."

Troy, Chad, Zeke, and the other Wildcat players were running suicides on the gym floor. While Troy was running, he felt a tear in his knee. He just ignored it thinking that it was just a muscle strain. He kept running even though his knee was beginning to hurt a lot. After the suicides, Coach Bolton gave them a quick water break. During the break, Coach Bolton saw Troy massaging his knee and walked over to him.

"Troy, are you okay?"

"Yeah, my knee's just a little sore. I think I just didn't stretch enough before practice."

"Okay, if it starts to hurt anymore, let me know."

"Alright, Dad. But, honestly I am fine."

"Alright, Wildcats. Let's get back to practice."

After the break, Coach Bolton had them run shooting drills. Troy was dreading this part of practice since his knee was hurting so badly. When it was Troy's turn to go, he hesitated for a minute before jumping up to take his shot from the three-point line. When he landed, he heard another "rip" in his knee. It hurt like hell, but Troy didn't let it get to him because he needed to play in the state championship game. After three-point shooting, they moved on to jump shots. When Troy took his shot, he ran up to the hoop and jumped up, again he felt and heard another tear in his knee. When he landed, he realized that maybe there was something wrong with his knee and it was more than just a strain. But, after jump shots, they had to run a couple laps around the gym for a cool down. Troy was lagging behind a little bit because of his knee.

"Come on guys, keep it up. Troy, you okay?"

"Yeah Coach I'm fine. Just sore."

"Alright guys, pull it in. Okay guys, so Friday is the state championship game. I want all of you to relax and rest up for the game and we are going to start lightening up on practice because I don't want any of you getting injured before the big game."

"Too late," thought Troy. "Hands in guys. Who are we?"  
"Wildcats," yelled the team.

"Wildcats. Get your head in the game," yelled Troy and the rest of the team.

Just as Troy was heading into the locker room, Coach Bolton stopped him.

"Troy, you sure you are okay? I do not like how you were lagging behind the team during cool down. "

"I'm fine, dad. I'm just sore. When I get home, I will ice my knee. But, right now I really have to go get changed so that I can get to rehearsal."

"Okay, Just let me know if it starts to swell or feels worse. See you at home Troy."

"Alright. Thanks Dad. See you later."

Troy then limped over to the stage for rehearsal. When he got closer to the stage, he stopped noticeably limping because he didn't want Gabby to realize that there was something wrong. Before he got to the stage, he pulled out his rehearsal schedule and looked at what they were doing today.

"Joy, today's dancing day when we learn the steps to almost all of the songs. Is God out to get me for some reason? First, basketball practice when I tore something in my knee three times, then the "Musicale" when I have to dance with said knee, and lastly I have the state championship game on Friday, which requires more movement of my knee. Well, I guess I will just have to grin and bear it because the team needs me, as does the musical. I can't let Gabby down. She's been practicing so hard and I just need to fight the pain. I can do this." Troy thought to himself trying to mentally prepare himself for the upcoming rehearsal.

Troy walked into the stage just before rehearsal started.

"Troy, how was practice?" asked Gabby.

"Okay, I'm a little sore but I'll be okay," said Troy.

"You okay for rehearsal?"

"Yeah, let's get started."

Over the next two hours (which is how long rehearsal lasted), Troy felt something in his knee tear about 4 more times. The pain was getting increasingly worse as rehearsal went on. By the time it was over, Troy was finding it hard to keep standing. Gabby noticed that something was bothering Troy and walked over to ask him if he was okay.

"Troy, Are you okay? You look like you can hardly walk," said Gabby.

"I'm fine. My knee is just sore since I didn't stretch it enough before basketball practice. I'll be okay. Well I told my dad I would run an errand for him before coming home so I will see you tomorrow," said Troy.

"Alright, bye Hun. Hope your knee feels better."

"It will. I'm just going to ice it today."

Troy felt bad about having to lie to Gabby but he didn't have the guts to tell her that he thinks he really messed up his knee and had to go to the store and get a brace for his knee. After he went to the store, Troy went home and got ice and went to his room until dinner.

"Troy, did you ice your knee when you got home? Was it okay during rehearsal?" asked Mr. Bolton.

"Yeah, it was still a little sore during rehearsal, but it is feeling better now. I'll be fine for Friday," said Troy.

"What happened to your knee, Troy?" asked Mrs. Bolton.

"I just didn't get enough time to stretch before practice today and it's just a little sore. It feels a lot better now."

"Let me look at it," said Mr. Bolton.

"No, that's okay. Mom, Dad, if it starts to really hurt, I will let you know and get it checked out," said Troy.

"Okay just take it easy Troy," said Mr. Bolton.

Over the next week, Troy wore his brace under his jeans during the school day and then changed out of it before practice and put it back on before rehearsal. The only reason he didn't keep it on during practice was because he didn't want anyone seeing it and during practice, he had to wear shorts meaning that everyone would see it if he kept it on. During basketball practice, he was careful not to do too much but being under constant surveillance of his dad it was kind of hard to not do too much. Between Tuesday and Thursday, he felt about 20 different tearing sensations in his knee. He knew that when he finally got his knee checked out, the diagnosis would not be good. Also, on Wednesday, he started feeling sick again. He had been sick about 5 other times this year with tonsillitis and the doctors said that his tonsils would have to come out soon if he kept getting sick.

On Friday morning, Troy stumbled down the steps.

"Troy, are you okay? You don't look so well. Are you feeling alright?" asked Mrs. Bolton.

"Yeah mom, I'm fine. Just tired. I couldn't sleep last night since the state championship is tonight. I'm kind of nervous about that," said Troy.

"I completely understand, Troy. After the state game, though, you need to get rest. You look exhausted. You are to come home after the team celebration and get some sleep and this weekend I want you to stay around the house. Gabriella is welcome to come over but I want you to rest and stay in the house. You don't need to get sick before the musical."

"Alright. Thanks Mom. It will be nice to relax once the season is over. But then soon the rehearsal schedule for the musical will get more hectic and more time consuming as opening night gets closer."

"True. But I am sure after a weekend of rest and relaxation, you will be as good as new."

"Alright, well I have to go Mom. Thanks for breakfast."

"Bye Troy"

When Troy got to school, he felt worse than he did when he left his house that morning.

"Hey Troy. Mrs. Darbus made rehearsal earlier today so that you can still come to rehearsal and the game. Are you okay? Hunny, you look really sick. Are you sure you are going to be able to stay in school, go to rehearsal, and play in the game?" said Gabby.

"Yeah. I have to, Gabby, I can't let my teammates down. Anyway, I am perfectly fine," said Troy.

"Okay, Troy. But the team will understand if you can't play, hun. Be careful."

"Geez, the last time you told me that I messed my knee. Can't wait to find out what happens at the game tonight," Troy thought. "Thanks, Gabby. I will."

During the day, Troy felt progressively worse. His throat was really bugging him so was his head and his whole body in general. His knee was throbbing in pain because with it being game day, he had to wear his basketball uniform to school, which meant no knee brace. He kept coughing, had a stuffy nose, and kept getting chills. Troy had a feeling that he was getting the flu based on his symptoms.


	2. Author's Note

Author's Note

Hey guys, okay I know I just started the story today but I have a lot more written but sadly the next part of this story was thrown away by my dad so I have rewrite that part. But, everything after that is already written.


	3. Chapter 2

But, he continued to pretend that he was all right so that nothing would jeopardize his playing in the game that night. By the time, rehearsal for "Twinkle Town" began, his knee and just about every other part of his body hurt and unfortunately for Troy, it was yet another dancing day.

"Joy, what did I do to piss off the higher powers this time?"

Troy attempted to dance as he did before he injured his knee and became sick, but it was hard to do, especially with Gabriella breathing down his neck at all times. All throughout practice, Troy had difficulty breathing and moving. He knew that all eyes were on him worriedly. After practice, Troy went over to the side of the stage to massage his knee until he felt that he could walk over to the gym. He could hear her footsteps before he saw her. He already knew what she was going to say before she opened her mouth.

"Are you sure you're okay, sweetheart? You don't look okay and you haven't all week," said Gabriella.

"Gabby, I wouldn't lie to you. I am perfectly fine. Just a little sore since I have been practicing so often. I already promised my mom that I would rest all weekend," said Troy.

"If you say so. Troy, I am here for you whenever you need to talk," Gabby said before walking over to the piano to talk with Kelsi.

"Kelsi why won't he tell me what's wrong? It's obvious there is something wrong. He can't walk at all. How is he going to play? He needs to go to the doctor and get his knee checked out. That's about the fifteenth time he has just sat and massaged his knee. He did something to his knee but he is stubborn and won't tell anyone because he 'needs to play' tonight. He's going to mess his leg up for good and ruin his basketball career," said Gabby.

"Gabby. Troy isn't used to not being in control. He is the leader on the court, the playmakers. If he told people that he was injured, that would make it seem as if Troy needs help and is not in charge of everything. Also, he doesn't want to let anyone down. I think some of it also has to do with the amount of pressure that Coach Bolton puts on Troy. Troy especially doesn't want to let you down."

"How would he let me down?"

"Because it could possibly ruin the musical. If he really messed his knee up, he would be on crutches for a while and unable to dance in the musical."

"Wow, I guess I hadn't thought of that. I'm afraid he is going to pass out at the game. He's flushed and tired, so not only is he injured but also he's also sick. All right, let's head to the game. Troy already left."

Troy had left about five minutes after he finally got his knee to bend and walk. He was walking down the hallway towards the gym. He tried to run to see whether he could. He ran a couple steps and was in excruciating pain.

It was about five minutes into the game when Troy really started feeling the pain in his knee and the onslaught of the flu. He started seeing little dots in front of his face, he was struggling to breath and run or walk. He pushed himself even harder to offset these setbacks. About five minutes later, he was feeling even worse. It was harder to breath and he was in even more pain. He jumped up to block a player from shooting. His knee hit the knee of the other player and Troy went down in a heap. He had finally pushed his body to the limit as he landed unconscious from pain and lack of breath. No one noticed that Tory had fallen until they heard the sickening thud of his head hitting the gym floor.


	4. Chapter 3

Author's Note

Hey guys sorry it took me soo long to update. I've had IB exams and AP exams and projects to work on but I have a lot more written!

Gabby got up out of her seat and was sitting next to Troy with his head on her lap in no time.

"Troy, you need to get up. This isn't funny," said Gabby.

Coach Bolton and Mrs. Bolton quickly joined Gabriella on the floor with their son. About ten seconds later, the paramedics were out on the floor helping Troy.

"Has he been feeling sick or saying that something hurt lately?" asked the paramedics.

"Yes, he's been limping all week and he has had a fever since Wednesday but whenever, we asked him, he said that he was okay. I told him he should not be playing in the game today but he felt he had to," said Mr. Bolton.

"We have to get him to the hospital so we can check him over and make sure that he is okay."

"Alright. If it helps in your check ups, his knee has been bothering him since Monday."

"It is rather swollen. We will check that out too."

When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics got a still unconscious Troy onto a gurney and out to the ambulance. Mrs. Bolton rode in the ambulance with Troy while Gabriella drove over to the hospital. Mr. Bolton unfortunately had to stay at the game to coach the team. Troy regained consciousness en route to the hospital. When he woke up, he asked where Gabriella was and what was going on.

"Troy, Gabby is right behind us in her car. You passed out during the game and the medics are taking you to the hospital. Are you okay? And don't lie and tell me that you feel fine," said Mrs. Bolton.

"My knee hurts really bad as does my throat, stomach, and head. Did Dad stay at the game?" asked Troy.

"Yes. He is coming as soon as the game is over. Why didn't you tell us how poorly you were feeling? How long have you been feeling sick? What about your knee, what happened?"

"I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to let anyone down; dad, Gabby, Mrs. Darbus, the team, the cast. My knee has been hurting since Monday during practice when I felt like 3 tears in my knee and since then, there have been about thirty tearing sensations. I've been feeling sick since Wednesday."

"Geez, Troy. If you weren't feeling so horrible, you would be so grounded for not telling us. I won't ground you this time, just next time tell us."

"Alright, Mom. I will. Sorry."

"Mrs. Bolton, we're here. We are going to take Troy to the Emergency Room and run tests. He might have to have surgery but we will discuss it with you, Troy, and your husband before we do anything," said the paramedic.

"Alright, thank you. Troy, I'll be right out here when you are done. I love you sweetheart."

"Love you too, Mom. Again, sorry I didn't tell you before," said Troy hoarsely.

The medics got Doctor Robb to take care of Troy. They then rolled Troy down to the Emergency Room. After doing a quick check, they sent him to get an x-ray and an MRI. About two hours later, Troy was in an exam room with Mrs. Bolton and Gabriella. Mr. Bolton came in about half an hour later.

"Hey Dad. How did the rest of the game go? Sorry I wasn't able to play anymore. Is the team really mad at me?" asked Troy hoarsely and out of breath.

"Hey there buddy. How are you feeling? We won the game and I have the game ball sitting in the backseat of my car for you. The team is not mad; they are worried about you though. Troy, don't worry about not being able to play as long as you normally do in games. You should not have been on the court at all. I knew you were feeling that great and that your knee was bugging you. I should have sat you out of the game. I saw you limping and coughing but everytime I asked you to sit our a practice, you said you were fine or just out of breath," said Jack.

"Dad, it isn't your fault. It's mine. Don't blame yourself. As to the how I feel question, I feel like crap. I have a major headache from hitting my head on the gym floor. My knee is throbbing and my throat really hurts. I have already told Mom this but Dad I'm really sorry I didn't tell you and Mom about how I was feeling. I just didn't want to let anyone down. I am so used to being in control of my life. Making my own choices and having people look up to me, but being injured and sick at the same time made that hard but I didn't want to let people down so I had to push myself harder to offset all of it," said Troy.

About half an hour later, Doctor Robb came into Troy's Room to talk to the Boltons about Troy's condition.

"I'll go outside," said Gabriella.

"Well I have looked at all of Troy's x-rays and MRIs and have come to the following conclusions…."

HAHAHAHAHA Cliffy! More up later!


	5. Chapter 4

Author's Note

OK guys so here's the chapter yall have been waiting for…You guys finally get to find out what is wrong with Troy! Enjoy it. Reviews are welcome!

Chapter 4

_Previously on I'll Be There For You_

_"Well I have looked at all of Troy's x-rays and MRIs and have come to the following conclusions…."_

Now to the story

"Troy, you definitely have messed up your knee pretty badly. Your anterior cruciate ligament, ACL, is torn in about 30 places. We will have to fix that, which will require surgery. You also have bronchitis, laryngitis, pneumonia, tonsillitis, strep throat, and the flu. Looking at your charts, you have had tonsillitis or strep throat five times since September. We are going to have to remove your tonsils as well. So, if you all are okay with this, we would like to do the surgery tomorrow morning," said the doctor.

"After the surgery, what will happen with his knee?" asked Mr. Bolton.

"Well, he will be on crutches for a while. After the surgery, we would like him to stay here for a couple of days to make sure that his pneumonia is okay. But then, he can go home and rest until he is feeling better, then he can go back to school. 2 months from now, he will have to come back to the hospital for physical therapy once or twice a week. Troy, you will be on crutches for about six months," said Dr. Robb.

"SIX MONTHS! That's like the entire summer. I guess it's okay if it's necessary for my knee to stop hurting," said Troy.

"Alright. Well, Troy, we are going to move you to a regular room now. You can have friends and visitors in this room. I will let you girlfriend know that she can come in now."

"Thank you, Doctor Robb."

"Once you get into your room, the nurses will get you set up."

Dr. Robb then left and the nurses came in with a wheelchair to move Troy into a different room. Gabriella, Mrs. Bolton, and Mr. Bolton followed them into the hallway outside Troy's new room. The nurses rolled Troy into the room and helped him into the bed. They hooked him up to a heart monitor, IV, and all other necessary monitors. Once this was done, the nurses left and allowed Gabriella and the Boltons to come inside.

"Hey Freaky Callback Boy. How are you feeling? Your parents told me about your surgery. Are you okay?" asked Gabriella.

"Hey Freaky Math Girl. I'm okay. I'm scared but I'm feeling okay. Ok so I am lying. I feel horrible and terrified. My head, throat, knee, and stomach hurts. I'm scared about not being able to play basketball ever again. Gabby, sorry I let you down. Sorry I probably won't be able to do the musical," said Troy.

"Sweetheart, it's alright. You didn't get yourself sick and injured, it just happened. It will be fine. Just concentrate on getting better. I'll be here for you no matter what. The musical is in like a month so you can come watch. I'll tell Mrs. Darbus that you cannot be in it anymore. I'll explain everything to her. If you are a really good boy, I will tell Mrs. Darbus that Ryan and Sharpay will have to do the musicale because I have to take care of you and I really don't want to work with Ryan," said Gabriella.

"But Gabriella, you've worked so hard on this."

"So have you, Troy. There's always next year."

"I guess so. You aren't going to do the musicale then?"

"Nope. I'd rather take care of you."

"I'd rather have you take care of me."

"Ms. Montex, visiting hours are over and Mr. Bolton here needs his rest for tomorrow morning. You can come back after his surgery tomorrow," said the nurse.

"Thank you. Bye Troy. I will see you after your surgery," said Gabby.

"Bye Gabby. See you tomorrow. Thanks for being here with me," said Troy.

"Do you want me to give Chad, Zeke, or anyone else a call to let them know about your surgery or anything else?"

"No, it's okay."


	6. Chapter 5

A/N I don't own anything. I don't know Mrs. Bolton's first name so I made one up.

Gabby then left and Troy fell into a restless sleep. The next morning, the nurses allowed the Boltons to go into Troy's room to wake him up for his surgery even though visiting hours had not started yet. Once Troy was awake, his mom and dad gave him a kiss and then nurses brought him to the operating room for surgery. His parents waited in the waiting room outside of the operating room. After about six hours, Dr. Robb came out of the operating room.

"Jenn, Jack. Troy's surgery was fine. His ACL was kind of difficult to repair since it was ripped into so many pieces. We were able to get most of it fixed. We will have to do another MRI later on in the week to make sure that we got it all fixed. If we did not get it all fixed, we will need to perform more surgery. We will perform the MRI three days from today, on Tuesday. His throat will hurt more than it did before when he wakes up, which should be in a couple of hours. His throat hurting now will be in exchange for constantly getting strep throat and tonsillitis like he was these last couple of months. Depending on how his stomach is feeling when he wakes up, we will get him some sherbet, which should make his throat feel better, at least a little bit," said Dr. Robb.

"Thank you, doctor. How long do you think that he will have to stay here for?" asked Jack.

"Well depending on what the MRI shows, between four days and a week. If we were able to fix all of the tears in his ACL, he will be able to leave in four days. But if we have to perform more surgery, he will have to stay here about a week. Once he goes home though, he will need to stay in bed until he is feeling better."

"Thank you again doctor. Sweetheart, I am going to call Gabriella and tell her about Troy. I am also going to ask her to grab some stuff for Troy from the house," said Jenn.

While Jenn was calling Gabriella, Jack sat in the waiting room processing everything that had occurred in the past twenty-four hours. When Jenn got back, they went and sat next to Troy's bed in his room. Once Gabriella got to the hospital, Jenn went out into the waiting room and sat with Gabriella. An hour after Gabriella arrived at the hospital, four hours after Troy's surgery, Troy woke up.

"Hey Troy. How are you feeling son?" asked Jack.

"Horribly," said Troy almost inaudibly.

"Well the doctor said that your throat and knee would be sore for a while. He also said that they might have to perform more surgery on your knee because they might not have fixed every hole in your ACL."

"Joy, as if it didn't hurt enough already."

"Sorry. I'll go get your mom and Gabriella. They've been waiting for you to wake up all day."

"Dad. I think I am going to be sick."

"Oh geez. Here," said Jack quickly handing Troy a bucket.

Troy spent the next half an hour with his head over that bucket. When Troy was finally done, Jack went in the waiting room to get Jenn and Gabriella.

"Jenn, Gabriella. Troy's up. He isn't feeling so hot. He has spent the last thirty minutes with his head over the bucket throwing up. As the doctor said, his throat and knee are really sore. He can hardly talk. But he was asking for both of you," Jack said.


	7. Chapter 6

The rest of the weekend was spent with Troy getting sick, sleeping, reading, and "talking". On Monday, Gabriella had to go to school. She went in early in order to talk to Mrs. Darbus about the musical.

"Mrs. Darbus?" asked Gabriella.

"Yes, Ms. Montez," replied Mrs. Darbus.

"Troy and I will not be anle to do the musical. I'm sorry."

"Why not? You both agreed to do it. Why are you backing out now? Why are you telling me for Troy? He needs to tell me himself."

"Well, Troy is in the hospital. He collapsed at the game on Friday and has been at the hospital ever since. He had to have surgery on his knee to repair his ACL on Saturday because it was ripped into like thirty pieces. They might have to do more surgery to get it completely fixed. He also has pneumonia, bronchitis, strep throat, laryngitis, tonsillitis, and the flu. He had to have a tonsillectomy. So Mrs. Darbus, he would tell you but he is in the hospital."

"That explains why he can't but why can't you?"

"Troy wants me to help take care of him. Just let Ryan and Sharpay do the musical. I need to be with Troy."

"All right, thank you for telling me, Gabriella. Tell Troy I said feel better. I will tell Ryan and Sharpay that they will be doing the musical don't worry about it."

"Thank you."

When homeroom started, they were all sitting at their desks.

"I have an announcement to make. I have been informed that Ryan and Sharpay will need to do the musical because Troy and Gabriella are unable to. So, congratulations to Ryan and Sharpay."

"Yo Gabby, where's Troy?" asked Chad.

"He's been at the hospital since he collapsed at the game. He had to have knee surgery and a tonsillectomy. His ACL was torn thirty times. He has pneumonia, bronchitis, strep throat, laryngitis, tonsillitis, and the flu. He has to get another MRI on Tuesday to check if they fixed everything with his ACL. If they did, he gets to go home Thursday. If they didn't, he has to get more surgery on Wednesday and will be there until Saturday. No matter what though, he has to stay home until he feels better. So he won't be back for a little while," said Gabriella.

"Yikes, that sucks. Is he up for visitors? I might go visit after school."

"Yeah, of course. Hey, could you do me a favor?"

"Of course, what is it?"

"Troy asked me to drive his car back to his house. Would you be able to follow me to his house, then drive me back here to get my car?"

"Yeah sure, meet me outside at Troy's car after school."

"Okay, thanks Chad."

"Ms. Montez, Mr. Danforth. Is there something you want to share with the class?" asked Ms. Darbus.

"No thanks," said Chad.

"Sorry, Ms. Darbus," said Gabriella.


	8. Chapter 7

The rest of the school day was rather uneventful, except for the team meeting that Chad called to tell the team about Troy. After school, Gabriella met Chad at Troy's car. They drove over to Troy's house, dropped his car off, went back to school, grabbed Gabriella's car, and went over to the hospital.

"Hey Troy, how are you feeling today?" asked Gabriella.

"A little better. How was school today?" asked Troy very hoarsely.

"Pretty good, although it was kind of boring without you there. Oh, Darbus said feel better," said Gabriella giving him a kiss on the forehead.

"Hey Troy. Yo, that sucks about your knee. The team says get back soon. Are you going to be ready for next year?" asked Chad.

"I should be. I hope I am. Thanks and tell the team I said thanks too," said Troy.

"No problem. So, what have you been up to lying in bed?"

"Sleeping, reading, puking, listening to music, being woken up by nurses, and getting poked by needles. That's about it."

The next day, Troy was rolled down to get the MRI. The doctor got many different shots of his knee, different angles, different zooms, etc. Two hours later, Troy was being rolled back down to his room. About three hours later, Doctor Robb came back with the results.

"Mr. and Mrs. Bolton, Troy, first of all, Troy needs another MRI and chest x-ray because we wanted to check his pneumonia and other illnesses. The MRI technicians forgot that one so we will do that after this. With Troy's knee, we missed about five tears so we have to fix that. Sorry, Troy, you will be here until Saturday at most. We will perform that surgery on Wednesday night as planned. We will do then one more MRI of your knee before you go. So let's get you in that wheelchair to head to the MRI wing," said Dr. Robb.

About two hours later, Troy was back in his room. When the doctor came in an hour later, Troy was asleep.

"Jack, Jenn, these are Troy's chest x-rays and MRIs. We have to remove his appendix when we do his knee, which we moved up to this afternoon. His appendix is about to burst so we want to get it out before that happens. He is still set to go home on Saturday though. We will let Troy know when he wakes up. Had Troy been complaining of pain in the abdomen or lower back?" asked Dr. Robb.

"Actually yes, we just thought that it was from his other illnesses. We didn't realize that it could be another illness. He complained a couple days ago and said it got worse as time went on," said Jack.

Troy was starting to wake up hearing all of the talking.

"Hey, what's going on, doc?" asked Troy close to inaudibly.

"Your chest x-rays and MRIs are back. It turn out that we have to perform an appendectomy when we fix your knee, which we moved up to this afternoon. We moved it up because we don't want your appendix to burst and while we are already working on you, I figured to get it all done," said Dr. Robb.

"All right, whatever you need to do is fine. I just want to go home."

"Well, we'll see if you can go home Friday instead of Saturday. WE can probably figure that out. You'll be home soon. Don't forget though that you'll have to stay in bed for a little while after you go home. You have to let your throat, abdomen, and knee a chance to recuperate a little before doing anything."

"I know. What time will the surgery be and how long will it take?"

"We will start in an hour and it will take at least two hours."

"All right, why so soon though? Isn't it all backed up?"

"Yes, but we have to get that appendix out before it bursts."

"Oh okay."

The doctor then left to get the surgeon for surgery while the nurses prepped Troy. They took the brace off of Troy's knee and Mr. and Mrs. Bolton saw the incision from the first surgery.

"Is he going to have another scar or will the doctor be going through the same place as before?" asked Mr. Bolton.

"He will have another scar because the doctor can not go through the same place twice," said the nurse.

"Joy, I am just going to be full of scars," said Troy.

Then the nurses brought Troy to the operating room. At 2:30, Gabriella got to the hospital. When she didn't see Troy, she started freaking out. She looked for his parents, but did not see them. She called Chad to see if he had spoken to Troy. She finally found Mr. and Mrs. Bolton.

"Where's Troy? I checked his room and he wasn't there and I couldn't find you guys. Is he okay?" asked Gabriella freaking out.

"Gabriella, calm down. Troy will be fine. He is in surgery right now," said Mrs. Bolton.

"I thought that his surgery was tomorrow. What went wrong?"

"When they did the MRIs, they realized that Troy's appendix was about to burst so they are performing an emergency surgery and they are fixing his knee as well. He'll be at least another hour and a half. Then, we'll have to wait until he is awake from the anesthesia. With an earlier surgery, he might get to go home earlier. Doctor Robb said probably Friday but it could be even as early as Thursday. He'll be fine."

"Thank you, Mrs. Bolton. Can I wait here with you guys, after I call Chad?"

"Of course, Gabriella and thank you for calling Chad."

"No problem," said Gabriella on her way to call Chad.

Two hours later, Troy was still in surgery. The Boltons and Gabriella were sitting worriedly in the waiting room. An hour later, the surgeon came out.


	9. Chapter 8

"Mr. and Mrs. Bolton? Troy is out of surgery and in recovery. It took longer than expected because his knee took longer than we thought it would. He should be up in about an hour. He will be sore for a while. As of right now, he is scheduled to go home on Thursday. He will need to stay in bed though until he feels better," said the surgeon.

"Thank you Doctor. Gabriella, you may go sit with Troy while we talk to the Doctor," said Mrs. Bolton.

"Thank you, Mrs. Bolton," said Gabriella going into Troy's room.

An hour or so later, Troy woke up. His parents were still talking with the doctor but Gabriella was in his room.

"Troy, honey, how are you feeling? I was so scared when I got here and couldn't find you or your parents. Oh, and you get to go home on Thursday," said Gabriella.

"Gabbs, slow down. First off, can I have some ice chips? Thanks. I'm fine now. I am just a little sore, okay a lot sore but hey I've had two knee surgeries, a tonsillectomy, and an appendectomy in four days. I am allowed to be sore. I'm so sorry you got scared. I didn't mean to. Come here," said Troy.

"Why?"

Troy gave her a kiss.

"That's why," said Troy.

"Have I mentioned how amazing you are?" asked Gabriella.

"Not recently, no."

"Troy, how am I supposed to keep you quiet? I only know of one way, Mr. Hoarsy. Yes, I know you love the 'on the spot' nickname. I couldn't think of anything else."

5 minutes later

"Well that definitely kept you quiet."

"Yes, you are such a great kisser."

"Troy, you are so amazing. I am so happy that I met you."

"Gabs, I am so happy I met you too. Thanks for helping me through all of this. If all goes right, I'll be off the crutches in early to mid November so I will have a couple days to get ready for basketball. I have to wear a knee brace whenever I play from now on, which sucks but I'd rather wear a brace than not play at all. I also have to wear it for the musicals next year."

"So you definitely want to do them next year? If you don't, I would understand."

"Of course, I do. I wanted to do this one too but we can see how that turned out. Where are my parents?"

"They are talking to the doctor. They should be in here soon."


	10. Chapter 9

The rest of Tuesday and Wednesday was a blur of doctors, tests, nurses, and visitors. Thursday morning, the doctor brought Troy's best friends for the next 8 months or so, the crutches. He showed Troy how to use them, then Troy tried them. The crutches hurt his side because of the surgery so Dr. Robb got a wheelchair for Troy to use in his house.

"Well Troy, congratulations. You get to go home. Don't forget to pick up your prescriptions. Don't forget you have an appointment at noon next Friday for a chest x-ray to check the pneumonia and double check for infections from your appendix," said Dr. Robb.

"All right, thank you," said Mrs. Bolton.

"You might want to get some throat lozenges for him as well. Also, ice cream once he can keep something in his stomach. Aside from that, you are free to go, Troy."

"Thanks for everything," said a very, very hoarse Troy.

"Of course, just stay in bed and try to sleep. Those are the best treatments for illnesses and injuries."

Mr. Bolton then went and got the car while Mrs. Bolton helped Troy into the wheelchair and put all his stuff into a bag. She then rolled Troy down to the main entrance where Mr. Bolton was waiting with the car. Troy got in the backseat and sat sideways with his knee in front of him. Then, they drove back to the house. Little did they know though that Gabriella and their other friends had decided to decorate the house for Troy's homecoming. Had he been felling better, they would have thrown him a party. When Troy got home, they hid all their cars on other streets and turned all of the lights in the house off. When Mrs. Bolton turned on the lights, all of Troy's friends were standing in front of him. All, except Gabriella, Troy noticed. He suddenly saw and felt hands wrap around him and saw Gabriella behind him.

"Hey babe, welcome home," said Gabriella.

"Thanks, Gabs. Shouldn't you guys be in school?" asked Troy.

"My mom called school and told the secretary that I was sick. She knew I wanted to see you when you got home. She also knew what we were planning. Thinking of that, let's show you. By the way, what's with the wheelchair?"

"Well I tried using the crutches and they hurt my side from the surgery, so Dr. Robb told me to use this around the house for a couple days. But I am using those crutches to go up to my room. Well I am glad your mom said that you could stay home from school today. Let's see these decorations."

"Before we do that, I think there are some other people who want to talk with you."

"Can't we go upstairs and get me into bed first? Well second, after you show me the decorations."

"If it's okay with everyone else, it's okay with me."

"Okay with us," said all of his other friends.

While Gabriella rolled Troy around the downstairs, everyone else went to put last minute touches on Troy's room. They then went over to the steps where Troy used his crutches and Gabriella to get up the steps. Once they got to Troy's room, he saw all the pictures of all of his friends and him. There was a basketball in a box attached to his wall that had been signed by all his friends.

"Geez, guys, you didn't have to do all this for me."

"We wanted to," said Kelsi. "Now get your butt in bed, sick boy."

"Yeah listen to the playmaker. Old playmaker, get into that bed," said Jason.

Troy then got into bed and quickly fell asleep. He slept all through that day and woke up the next morning at 4:30.

"Troy, sweetheart, are you up yet?" asked Mrs. Bolton.

"Yeah, Mom, what's up?" asked Troy hoarsely.

"You need to take your medicine. Your father and I let you sleep all day yesterday but we need to get some medicine in you."

"All right, sounds good to me. By any chance, do you have any of those extra strength pain killers that they had me on at the hospital?"

"No, they refused to give us the morphine but we do have Vicodin for you. Is your knee really bugging you?"

"Yeah, it is. I know the doctor said that given time, I might get basketball back, but the way it feels right now, I don't think I will ever play again."

"Give it time, sweetheart. Ligament tears take a while to heal, even with just one tear. But, Troy, your ACL was torn thirty times. By the way, your father has to go to school today and he is going to get your make-up work. He is also getting all your absences excused. How are you feeling today?"

"Better, I guess. No sharp pains in my side, now it's just a dull ache from the surgery. My throat hurts pretty badly. My stomach still hurts a little but it's feeling better."

"Would you like to try to keep some food down?"

"Sure, I'll try. Can I get some jello?"

"Yeah, I already have some made so you could have some when you are ready."

"Thanks, Mom."

Mrs. Bolton went downstairs to get Troy's medications. She also got him a small bowl of jello. She also brought a wastebasket up with her in case he couldn't keep the jello down, which she suspected would happen. She went back upstairs. When she went into Troy's room, she was not amazed that he had fallen back asleep. He was so exhausted from all the medicines and being so sick. She felt bad about having to wake him up again.

"Troy, sweetheart, you need to get up. I know you want to sleep but the faster you do this, the faster you can go back to sleep."

"Yeah Mom," said Troy almost inaudibly. "I'm up. What do you need? Oh yeah."

"If you keep this down, I will ask your father to pick up sherbet on the way home."

"Okay," said Troy inaudibly. He took his medication from his mom. He took the medicine and then tried eating the jello. He ate a spoonful or two and then grabbed the wastebasket his mom had brought up for him. He sat there for five minutes throwing up anything in his system. By the time he was done, Troy was ready to go back to sleep. But, first, Mrs. Bolton had to check Troy's temperature.

"Sweetheart, sorry, but I have to take your temperature."

"Okay," said Troy through gesturing with his thumb.

"102º, it's lower than it was. At the hospital, it was creeping close to 104 º range."

"Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Yes, sweetheart, sorry for keeping you up."

"It's alright, Mom. Good night."

"Night, sweetheart, I'll wake you up later to take more medicine."

"Okay."

Troy then fell asleep. He kept waking up through. The first time he woke up, two hours later, he had to puke. He didn't see the bucket in his room so not thinking, he got up and ran to the bathroom. He did not make it very far because of the huge brace around his knee. He somehow managed to make it to the steps before falling and since he was right b the steps, he fell down. Mrs. Bolton heard the commotion and ran to make sure Troy was okay. She was shocked to see Troy at the bottom of the steps.


	11. Chapter 10

"TROY! Are you okay honey? What happened? JACK! Get out here!" yelled Mrs. Bolton.

"What's wrong, Jenn?" asked Jack.

"Mom, I think I'm going to be sick," said Troy just before throwing up.

"Jack, I need a trash bag. Troy fell down the steps and now he is throwing up," said Jenn.

"Is he okay? How did he fall?" asked Jack.

"I don't know. He hasn't said anything other except for saying he was going to be sick."

"I'm fine, Mom. Just a few bruises. No big deal," said Troy.

"Are you sure, sweetheart? I want to take you to the hospital to get you checked out."

'Okay sure, just to make sure."

"All right. What happened, Troy?" asked Jack.

"I was asleep and woke up when I had to puke. I didn't see the bucket and forgot about my knee and tried to run to the bathroom. Somehow, I managed to make it to the steps when my leg gave out and I fell down the steps," said Troy.

"Yeah, we are definitely taking you to the hospital. Are you sure you're okay?" asked Jenn.

"I think so. My knee hurts obviously and so does my head. My wrist kind of hurts too."

"Let me help you up."

"Yeah, can someone grab my crutches?"

"Oh yeah, are you going to be able to use the crutches if your wrist is hurting?"

"I can try, but I doubt it."

"Okay, don't overdo it sweetheart."

"I won't Mom, Don't worry."

Once Jack got back down with Troy's crutches, Jack and Jenn got Troy up and he tried to use the crutches but it hurt. Jenn then gave Troy his wheelchair and brought him out to the car. When they got to the hospital, Jack and Jenn helped Troy out of the car and back into the wheelchair. They signed in at Triage and waited for Dr. Robb. About an hour later, Dr. Robb came out.

"Hello Troy, so what happened?" asked Dr. Robb.

I fell down the steps," said Troy very hoarsely.

"Okay, what hurts?"

"My head, knee (obviously), chest, throat, and wrist."

""Okay, let's get your back to an exam room. First x-rays."

Then the nurses brought Troy to the x-ray and MRI room. They got multiple x-rays and MRIs of Troy's skull, wrist, knee, leg, and chest. Once they were done with this, the nurses brought Troy down to an exam room. Dr. Robb came in to look at Troy's arm and leg before looking at the x-rays.

"Troy, I am going to feel around your arm, just let me know where it hurts," said Dr. Robb.

Troy gave a "thumbs up" since his voice was completely gone. Dr. Robb then started feeling Troy's lower arm. When he got closer to his wrists, troy began to feel more and more pain. When Dr. Robb simply put one finger on wrist, Troy jumped in pain.

"Well, that's one spot I need to look at when I get your x-rays back. Now, I am going to do the same thing to your leg but not touch your knee," said Dr. Robb.

Troy again gave a "thumbs up". Dr. Robb had just started undoing Troy's brace when the nurses came in to tell Dr. Robb that the x-rays and MRIs were back. Dr. Robb then left Troy's room. When he got back, Mr. and Mrs. Bolton were also in Troy's room.

"Troy, the x-rays show only one break and that is at your ankle so we will put a cast on to just above your knee. We will take the cast off most likely on yur first day of physical therapy for your knee. The MRIs also showed deep bruises on your wrist and ribs. We will wrap your ribs and wrist up with ace bandages. You also have a mild concussion," said Dr. Robb.

"Geez. What about the crutches? And school?" asked Troy hoarsely.

"Well, for now, I want you to use the wheelchair to let the bruises heal a little bit. When your wrist and ribs feel better, then you can start using the crutches but I want you to leave the wraps on for about a month even when you are using the crutches. When you start using the crutches, wrap the bandage around your wrist not your hand like the nurses are going to do. With school, just make sure you can use the crutches when you go back. Now, the nurses are going to come in, remove your brace, put the cast on, and wrap your ribs and wrist tightly. Any other questions?"

"About his concussion, what should we do?" asked Jenn.

"Make sure he gets rest. Once the nurses are done, he can home. Go straight to bed. I am ordering bed rest until he is feeling better."

"Yes, doctor. Troy, did you hear that? I don't want to hear any complaining."

"Okay, Mom, I get it, no getting out of bed until I am feeling better. Besides, I think I learned my lesson about getting out of bed," said Troy pointing at his cast.

"True. I also learned my lesson about not putting the bucket back in your room."

"Mom, this is not your fault. I could have just called you up."

Just then the nurses came in. First, they wrapped Troy's ribs and wrist tightly.

"What color cast do you want?" asked the nurse.

"Umm, white," said Troy.

"Okay."

The nurse then took the brace off Troy's knee carefully. She then carefully put the cast on Troy's leg. When she was done, she left to get Dr. Robb.

"This stinks. What time is it?" asked Troy.

"It's 10:00, honey. Do you want me to call the school and tell Gabriella?" asked Jenn.

"No, she's in the middle of class. She'll be by later. I'll tell her then."


	12. Chapter 11

Dr. Robb came back in and told the Boltons details and when they needed to come back. He then released Troy with strict orders to immediately go to bed. Mrs. Bolton rolled Troy down the hospital corridor and out to the car. Mrs. Bolton had driven her own car so she went to the store to pick stuff up for Troy. When Mr. Bolton got home with Troy, Mr. Bolton carried a surprisingly light Troy up the steps.

"Troy, if you need anything, call down. You have your phone right next to you. When your mom gets home, she will give you the bell to ring. Here is the wastebasket. Remember, no getting out of bed," said Jack.

"Thanks, Dad. I remember. I'll listen to the doctor. I don't want to break my other ankle," whispered Troy.

"True, all right, I'll just be downstairs. Get some sleep," said Jack.

Troy did not respond because he was already asleep. Troy woke up twice to puke. The third time he woke up, it was 3:00. Gabriella called him and told him she would be over soon. Five minutes later, the doorbell rang.

"HI, Mrs. Bolton, how is Troy feeling today? Is he feeling any better?" asked Gabriella.

"Not really, he's upstairs though. He'll feel better when you go upstairs," said Jenn.

"Thanks. I noticed Mr. Bolton wasn't at school today, so I grabbed Troy's make up work for him."

"Thank you, Gabriella."

She then went upstairs to see Troy. She walked into his room. When she opened the door, Troy was fast asleep with the blankets pulled all the way up.

"Troy, Troy, wake up sweetie," Gabriella said quietly.

"Hey," whispered Troy softly.

"Your mom said you were feeling worse today."

"I'm feeling better now, thanks. How was school today?"

"Boring as usual. When do you get to come back to school?"

"They're guessing another week or so. I had another check up this morning."

"Oh, how did it go?"

"Okay. Have I mentioned how much I hate this lately?"

"No, not yet today. I'm sorry, darling. I wish I could help. Aren't you hot?"

Troy shook his head quickly. He did not want her to see his leg, wrist, or ribs. He was shocked she had not asked about the cuts and bruises on his face. Almost as if on cue, Gabriella asked Troy.

"What happened?"

"Huh?"

"Your face, why are there so many cuts and bruises all over?"

"Huh?"

"Troy Bolton, you know what I am talking about. Tell me the truth, what happened? If you lie to me, I will be so mad at you."

"Well I guess you'll find out soon enough anyways, I might as well tell you."

"TROY!"

"I fell down the steps," Troy said under his breath quickly.

"Do not tell me that you just told me you fell down the steps."

"But you said tell you the truth."

"Oh my god, are you okay? No wonder you weren't feeling better today. What happened?"

"I was asleep and I suddenly woke up feeling as if I was going to hurl at any second, which I did after I fell. So yeah, I didn't see a bucket in my room and I had completely forgotten about having to use the crutches and tried to run to the bathroom. My knee gave out by the stairs and I just fell. I am as okay as I can be dealing with my knee and everything on top of a newly bruised wrist and ribs, as well as a broken ankle, and a mild concussion."

"Oh geez, Troy. Is that why the covers are all the way up to your chin?"

"Yeah because I feel so stupid that I forgot about the crutches and my knee. Now I have ace bandages on my wrist and ribs and a cast from my foot to above my knee."

"Let me see your cast."

"Okay." Troy then pushed the blanket down to the end of the bed.

"Thanks. Geez, babe, this stinks."

"Yeah, do you mind if I go to sleep? They upped the dosage of the vicodin and it's making me more tired than usual."

"Of course. Night babe," said Gabriella giving Troy a kiss.

Troy fell asleep and left Gabriella thinking. She realized how depressed Troy was getting because of all that was going on. She was trying to think of something for Troy that would get him happier. She remembered how much he liked the picture of the Wildcat playing basketball. So she decided to draw pictures on his cast. She drew all over his cast with pictures of Wildcats, basketball, him, her, him and her, drama, and musicals. When he woke up, she was still drawing on his cast. He looked at his leg and smiled.

"Thanks Gabriella. It is really nice. You're amazing, you know that right?" said Troy very hoarsely.

"Thanks Troy. I wanted to make you happy because you have been so upset lately and I wanted to do something to help. Do you like it?" asked Gabriella.

"Of course I do. I wish I could keep it after I get rid of my cast."

"I'm going to draw it on a poster for you. I already started the poster but I decided to make a cast collage too since your cast is white and you've been so upset lately."

"I love you Gabriella. Wow, you don't have to say anything. I just had to say it. Gabriella Montez, I could say that I love you a billion more times and it still wouldn't my feelings for you. You have helped me through this past week so much. I don't know what I would do without you. I love you so much Gabriella Montez."


	13. Chapter 12

"Wow, Troy. Umm I gotta go," said Gabriella turning and leaving. She quickly ran past Mrs. Bolton. She ran out the door and to her car. She quickly drove out of the Boltons driveway. Mrs. Bolton watched Gabriella leave. She then heard the sounds of sobs coming from Troy's room. Just when she was about to go and see if Troy was okay, Mrs. Montez called.

"Hey Jenn, this is Maria," said Mrs. Montez.

"Hey Maria, how are you? What's up?" asked Mrs. Bolton.

"Did something happen over there?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Gabriella got home, ran upstairs to her room, and hasn't stopped crying."

"I don't know what happened. Troy hasn't left his room but he isn't allowed to because the doctor told him to stay in bed, but he has been sobbing since Gabriella left. I was about to go in and see what was wrong when you called."

"Oh, what else happened to Troy? I mean he was allowed to get out of bed before, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, this morning he felt sick and didn't have a bucket in his room. He forgot about his knee and tried to run to the bathroom. Right, when he got to the steps, his knee gave out on him and he fell down the steps. He broke his ankle, bruised his wrist and ribs, and got a mild concussion. The doctor put Troy on bed rest until he is feeling better."

"Geez, tell him I hope he is feeling better. Okay so I will talk to Gabriella while I talk to Troy to try to figure out what went wrong."

"Okay. I will talk to you later."

They then hung up and Jenn and Maria went into Troy's and Gabriella's rooms respectively.

"Troy? Troy honey? Are you okay?" asked Jenn.

"Not really Mom. Can you tuck me back in please?" asked Troy in a soft, hoarse tone.

"Why? Your cast looks nice."

"Exactly, please cover it up. I'm really cold, Mom."

"Troy, what happened between you and Gabriella?"

"Nothing."

"Troy, I know something happened. Please tell me. I want to help."

"Nothing you can do will help. So, don't worry about it. I'll be fine."

"Troy, just tell me what happened. I want to help you through this."

"No Mom! I don't want to tell you."

"Why not sweetheart?"  
"Because it hurts, okay? It just hurts," Troy yelled hoarsely.

"Sorry honey. I'm so sorry honey."

"Mom, I love you."

"I love you too, Troy."

This comment just made Troy cry even harder.

"Troy, what did I do?"

"Is it hard to say that, Mom?"

"Say what, Troy?"  
"I love you too, Troy."

"No, why do you okay? Oh no, did you tell Gabriella that you love her and she didn't say it back?"

Troy just nodded.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry, Troy," Jenn said giving Troy a long hug as Troy sobbed into her shoulder.

Meanwhile, over at the Montez household, Maria was talking to Gabreilla.

"Gabriella? Sweetheart, what's wrong? What happened at Troy's?" asked Maria.

"Nothing Mom. I'm fine," said Gabriella.

"Sure that is why you haven't stopped crying since you got home."

"Mom, please just drop it. I don't want to talk about it. I was a jerk tonight. I just want to forget about it and move on. I ruined my relationship with Troy and broke his heart."  
"Go apologize then."

"I can't Mom. I can't see him. He hates me now."

"What did you do? Please tell me sweetheart."

"Troy told me that he loves me. He told me and I freaked. I got up and ran out of the Bolton's house. I could hear him sobbing outside the house, Mom. He doesn't want to see me. I think I completely messed up this relationship, which stinks, Mom, because I do love him. Why is it so hard to tell him that?"

"Gabriella, sweetheart, it is supposed to be hard. No one ever said that love is easy. Love is hard; it will tear you down and rip you apart. But, in the end, it is the best thing that you will ever go through. At first, it is hard to say but once you say it, you want to keep saying it. Just give it time; no one expects you to say it right now. When the time is right, you will be able to tell him."

"Thanks Mom. I love you."

"I love you too Gabriella."

"When Mrs. Montez left Gabriella's room, Gabriella got her phone out and called Troy. Over at the Bolton's, Mrs. Bolton was still holding Troy. Troy's phone rang, but he had just fallen asleep. Mrs. Bolton hit the button to silence the phone and ignore the call. She saw that it was Gabriella who had called and was happy that Troy was asleep. Mrs. Bolton turned the phone off. She then left the room, shut the door, and went downstairs. When she got downstairs, the phone rang. It was Maria.

"Hey Jenn. It's Maria again. So did Troy tell you?"

"Yeah, technically he did. I kinda figured it out when he started crying harder when I said I love you too Troy. Did Gabriella tell you?"

"Yeah. What are we going to do? They both love each other so much. Gabriella hasn't left her room. How's Troy?"

"He finally stopped crying a couple minutes ago when he cried himself to sleep. He isn't doing so great. I don't think there is anything we can do. We don't want to make things worse by pushing them to each other before they are ready."

"True, I guess this is one thing we can't help with."

"Bye Maria. Talk to you soon."

"Bye Jenn.

After they hung up, Maria and Jenn went to Gabriella's and Troy's rooms, respectively, to make sure they each were alright. Gabriella was asleep with tear stains on her face, as was Troy. Jenn and Maria let them sleep.


	14. AN

Hey guys,

Sorry I haven't updated in a really long time. I have a lot written but I am having a hard time finding time to type it up onto my computer and then I don't have chapter separations in my notebook so I have to find the right places to cut the chapters but I promise you that you will have an update soon. Please do not give up on this story.

SMVLOTHLVER032308


	15. Chapter 13

When Troy woke up the next morning at 11, Chad, Zeke, Jason, and Ryan were sitting at the end of his bed.

"Woah, what are you guys doing here?" asked Troy hoarsely.

"Your mom told us you were upset, so we planned a guys day," said Jason.

"What all did you guys plan?"

"Well we know you are sick so we wanted to make sure that you wouldn't have to get out of bed. We brought movies, video games, videos, and other stuff and you have a computer. So if you don't mind me asking, what happened?" asked Chad.

"Maybe later guys, let's watch a movie or something."

"Okay but Troy man we are here if you wanna talk," said Zeke.

"Thanks guys and I'll tell you later."

"Okay, 2 Fast 2 Furious or NBA Live?"

"2 Fast 2 Furious," said Troy not wanting any of the guys to know about what happened yesterday, the fall of the thing with Gabriella.

For the next hour or so, the boys just sat and watched the movie. Once the movie was over, Chad, Jason, Zeke, and Ryan set up the NBA Live. They turned when they noticed that Troy was fast asleep.

"Troy Bolton, you are really boring. You keep falling asleep. How are we supposed to have a guys' day when you keep falling asleep?" asked Jason.

"Sorry guys," said Troy softly. "I'll try to stay awake, guys. I don't feel that great."

"We know, we feel for you, Troy. Wanna play?" asked Chad.

"Sure," said Troy forgetting about his wrist and ribs. Troy grabbed the controller with his good hand. He pulled his other hand from under the blanket. No one noticed until about five seconds into the game when Troy dropped the controller in pain and started massaging his wrist.

"Yo dude, what happened? I thought it was just your leg that was messed up," said Chad.

"Yeah, well when you fall down the steps, more injuries tend to occur," said Troy almost inaudibly.

"You fell down the steps!" exclaimed Zeke.

"Yeah I did."

"Well what else is injured now?" asked Ryan.

"Heavily bruised wrist and ribs, broken ankle, and a mild concussion."

"Geez that stinks. Did you have to get a cast or is the brace still on?"

"Cast."

"Ohh, can we sign it?"

"No."

"Why not?" asked Chad.

"Gabriella decorated it."

"Oh, there's got to be some room for us."

"Nope, look for yourself."

Chad, Zeke, Jason, and Ryan pulled the covers down and saw Gabriella's masterpiece.

"Wow, Gabriella's really talented," said Jason.

"Yeah, she is," said Troy sadly although none of his friends realized it.

"You okay to play?" asked Chad.

"Ready to get whooped by the cripple?" asked Troy.

"Oh you're on, crip."

Troy and Chad played and Troy won.

"Geez, Chad, you got beat by the cripple. He won even with pausing the game every minute or so," said Zeke.

"Shut up Zeke," said Chad.

"Hey, would one of you mind going to the kitchen and getting me ice for my wrist?" asked Troy.

"No problem, who is playing you next in the tournament?" asked Jason/

"The winner between Chad and whoever wins between Jason and Ryan, I guess."

"I'm not playing. I'm keeping track of the games and all," said Ryan.

"Oh okay, Zeke and Jason play next. Chad then plays loser and I play winner. Then tournament over."

"Okay, let's go. Jason, Zeke, ready? Go," said Ryan before going to get ice for Troy. When he got back, Jason and Zeke were still playing. When the game was over, Zeke had won. The guys took a break for food; well all but Troy ate since Troy still couldn't keep anything down.

"Yo Troy, how much weight have you lost?" asked Chad.

"No idea, I can't get an accurate weight with this heavy thing," said Troy pointing at his cast.

"True but take a guess," said Zeke.

"Probably like ten to twelve pounds so far. My weight right now with the cast is about two pounds lighter than it was before the cast and sickness and all. The other morning before the cast, they weighed me at the hospital on Thursday morning with the brace on and it was eight pounds lighter."

"Geez, Troy. When you are off those crutches, you are going to have some major weight lifting and exercise to get your endurance and strength back for basketball," said Chad.

"My arms will be fine. It will just be my legs I need to work on, although, I will be doing that with the physiotherapy. I have that for like four months or so. It might be shorter but I will be out of commission for running until early to late November. Even with the physiotherapy, it will be at least 8 or 9 months before I can do anything for basketball. That is the best case scenario according to the doctors. It could be longer though. They said they've never dealt with this bad of a knee injury when they didn't just completely remove the ligament. So they are trying to make predictions but they could be way wrong. It could be a lot longer."

"It could be shorter too, Troy."

"No it can't, the timeline given…Well I guess it could but I doubt it."

"Ok so who's ready for the next game?" asked Chad.

"Alright, let's go Chad," said Jason.

"You're on," said Chad.

A little bit later, they were done the game. Chad beat Jason.

"Time for the championship game. Troy, are you okay to play right now?" asked Zeke.

"I should be all iced up so hopefully I won't have to pause as often. So let's go," said Troy.

This time, Troy only had to pause the game once every three minutes. By the end of the game, Troy had won decisively with the score 101 to 83.

"Well we have an undefeated champion from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Troy," said Ryan.

"Who got beat by the cripple now?" said Chad.

"So I wonder what the girls are up to today?" asked Ryan.

"All Sharpay would tell me is that they are having a girls' only day," said Zeke.

"Okay no offense Zeke but you dating Sharpay is kinda weird," said Chad.

"Well what about you and Taylor?" asked Jason.

"And you and Kelsi?" said Ryan.

"And Troy and Gabriella," said Zeke.

"I feel left out. I need a girlfriend."

"Yeah, you do. We'll find the perfect person for you."

"Has anyone else realized that Troy's been really quiet?" asked Jason.

"That's because he is asleep. I'm more shocked that he hasn't really talked about Gabriella today or called her," Chad said.

"You're right. Normally, it's all Gabriella all the time," Zeke remarked.

The four boys sat there in Troy's room talking for an hour while Troy slept. They moved their conversation to the hallway while Mrs. Bolton gave Troy his medicine. When she left, they went back into Troy's room. Troy was awake now but still a little groggy.

"Hey Troy, wanna just watch the World Cup?" asked Zeke.

"Sure, sounds good to me," said Troy who was hoarser than before.

They turned the game on and for the next hour and a half or so, they watched the World Cup. After that, they went on the computer. When Troy opened his computer, all he could see was his desktop with the huge picture of him and Gabriella from after the championship game, scholastic decathlon, and call backs. Troy held back tears as he quickly got the internet open.

"Troy, question before we get on the internet, what happened between you and Gabriella? You haven't talked to or about her all day. When any of us mention her, you get sad. You were close to tears when you saw the picture, so what's wrong?" asked Chad.

"I told her that I love her," said Troy.

"Shouldn't that be a good thing, not a bad thing?" asked Ryan.

"It should be a good thing, if they say it back to you. When they turn and leave right after you say it makes it upsetting."

"Why would Gabriella do that? It is so obvious how much she loves you. What was going on when she said it?" asked Chad.

"She was drawing on my cast and I was talking about how she has been there for me the whole time through this injury and illness."

"I don't know what to tell you, Troy man. Maybe Taylor will get something out of her while hanging out with her today."

"Hopefully, it would be nice to know why she ran off."

"I'm sure it would. She'll tell you herself later. I'm sure."

"I hope so. I want to talk to her so badly, it hurts," said Troy starting to cry a little.

"Troy, it's okay. Man, this will work itself out. Don't worry so much and dude, you have got to stop the crying."

"Shut up, dude. I know I need to stop crying but you know what Chad it hurts. It really hurts to tell my girlfriend that I love her and have her turn and leave instead of saying it back. So I am sorry if crying is just a teenage girl thing."

"Troy, we all have had our share of crying moments in our lives. It is perfectly normal," said Zeke.

"Okay, one shut up Zeke and two, Troy, he's right. Remember last year when Lisa dumped me. I was crying for like ten whole minutes," said Chad.

"Okay dude, I was there. It was two freaking hours until you stopped crying, man. You just wouldn't stop. 'Why did she dump me?' 'I'm Chad. Who would dump Chad Danforth?' I had to listen to you asking me that for two whole hours plus four days after that. If you did that with Lisa who you didn't really even like, imagine if you and Taylor ever break up," said Troy extremely hoarse and softly.

"Dude, for someone who just recently had a tonsillectomy you talk a lot. When I had my tonsils removed, I only said one word answers for two weeks," said Ryan.

"I don't like being quiet, obviously."

"Ain't that the truth? You talked all through church services when mine, Zeke's, and Jason's parents used to force all 4 of us to go. Thank God they stopped that," said Chad.

"Seriously, I hated those services," said Zeke.

"Duh, you slept through them. I doubt you were even awake for one whole mass," said Jason.

"I did too. Okay, it was the one that was five minutes because there was some emergency with the priest's family."

"I never did understand why I went. I'm not Catholic. Were your moms trying to convert me or something?" asked Troy.

"I don't know, man. Mom is very odd. I think she refused to believe that you aren't Catholic," said Chad.

"Wait, what religion are you? Sorry, I wasn't always hanging out with you guys so I don't know," said Ryan.

"Oh yeah, it's okay only Chad, Jason, and Zeke know, well and their moms. I'm Jewish," said Troy.

"Oh cool. I always saw you four at mass wishing that I could be sitting with you guys instead of listening to Sharpay's girl talk. So I always assumed you were Catholic. Sorry."

"Dude, it's okay. Everyone thinks I am because of their moms and me not telling everyone. So at Hanukkah/ Christmas time, I always get Christmas cards from my friends. I don't know why I don't tell people. It's not like I'm ashamed of being Jewish, but could you not tell anyone? I mean I haven't even told Gabriella yet. I haven't gotten around to it."

"No problem, I won't tell anyone. If no one knows, what about your Bar Mitzvah?"

"Just my family, the Danforths, the Crosses, and the Baylors. Small but nice, I had fun."

"Dude that was awesome. Your family always has the best celebrations. Hanukkah is always fun," said Jason.

"Oh yeah, those are awesome. See Ryan every year, the Boltons invite the three of us over for Hanukkah one night. We have a delicious traditional Jewish dinner, play dreidel, get presents, say prayers, and then light the menorah. It is so much fun," said Zeke.

"Unless you eat too much. Mrs. Bolton's cooking is phenomenal. One year, I ate way too much and got sick," said Chad.

"Oh yeah, I remember that year. You were sick for like three hours. Then, you vegged on the couch the rest of the night. You were really feeling horrible that night," said Troy almost inaudibly.

"Okay I am imposing a no talking rule for Troy. Anything he needs to say, he will write down."

"How?" said Troy showing Chad that his injured wrist was the right hand that he writes with.

"Umm, can you write at all?"

"Maybe."

"Okay, let me get go grab Troy's pad of paper and pen," said Ryan.

"Top right drawer of the desk," said Jason, Chad, Zeke, and Troy at the same time.

"That was odd."

"Yeah, Troy hasn't changed the set-up of his room since he was a little kid," said Jason.

"Oh, okay, well here is the pen and paper."

"It should be okay. Oh wait I lied, that hurts," Troy said.

"Try your other hand," said Chad.

"Okay, that's better. Can you all read it?"

"Yeah, you're like ambidextrous," said Ryan.

"I never knew that. I learned my new thing for the day. Do you guys want me to get on the internet?" wrote Troy.

"Yeah, thanks."

Mrs. Bolton then came in to Troy's room to see her son and his friends.

"Guys, I have two questions. One, Troy how are you feeling?" asked Mrs. Bolton.

"So, so both physically and emotionally. Did you know that I am ambidextrous?" wrote Troy.

"Actually, yes Troy. Your father and I both are so it only makes sense. Okay, second question, and I now have three questions. Why is Troy writing everything?"

"I placed a no speaking rule down because it was painful to listen to. He found out he was ambidextrous after trying, and failing, to write with his right hand," said Chad.

"Oh okay, third question, are you four staying for dinner?"

"Yeah, what's for dinner?" asked Jason.

"Meatloaf, potatoes, lima beans, and corn."

"Awesome. Mrs. B, you need to give me your cooking tips. You are an amazing chef," said Zeke.

"Why thank you Zeke. I appreciate that."

"Thanks, Mrs. Bolton," said Ryan.

"Only one request, call me Mrs. B, all Troy's friends do."

"Oh alright."

"Troy, I want you to try something light. I made chicken broth for you."

"I'll try," wrote Troy.

"Thanks, dinner will be ready in ten minutes."

"Thanks, Mrs. B," said Chad.

Thirty minutes later, Mr. and Mrs. Bolton brought the food up to Troy's room so Troy could stay in bed. Chad, Jason, Zeke, Ryan, and the Boltons all ate in silence.

"Wow, Mrs. B, this tastes great," said Zeke.

"Thank you Zeke. Troy, are you okay?" asked Jenn.

"Where's the bucket?" Troy asked.

"Guys, can you go downstairs for a second?"

"Of course, guys let's go," said Chad.

"Thanks Chad."

"Mom, that bucket," wrote Troy about to puke.

Once Chad got Zeke, Jason, and Ryan to leave the room, Jenn grabbed the bucket and gave it to Troy, who proceeded to throw up in it for the next thirty minutes. Once Troy was done, Jenn got the bucket, cleaned it out, and brought it back to Troy's room.

"Troy, are you feeling better now?" asked Jenn.

"Kind of. My stomach doesn't hurt as bad but my throat feels worse," Troy wrote.

"I can tell. What about your head, ribs, and all?" asked Jack.

"Feels worse, my ribs did not like the strain of throwing up repeatedly. I can't wait until I can eat again."

"We all want you to be able to eat again. We all want you to get better. Do you want me to send the guys home?" asked Jenn.

"Yeah, I'm about to pass out for the night. I don't literally mean I'm going to pass out. I'm tired."

"We know hun. Let me go let the guys know. Then, I will be back up here with your meds before you go to bed."

"Alright, thanks Mom. Thanks Dad. Thanks for getting them to come over today so I wouldn't sit, well lay, here all day thinking about Gabriella. I really appreciated it."

"Of course, Troy, it was our pleasure. We didn't want you sulking up here all day. Mrs. Montez planned the same type of thing for Gabriella with Taylor, Sharpay, and Kelsi."

"Mom, can we not talk about Gabriella right now, please?"

"Yeah, sure. Troy, are you sure you want me to tell the guys to go home?" asked Jack.

"Yeah, completely positive. I am exhausted. Mom, can I also have some ice for ribs?"

"Of course. Do you need some for your wrist too?"

"Yeah, sure. I wish I could still ice my knee. It really hurts. At least, when I ice it, it gets numb."

"Sorry, honey. I'll be right back."

Jenn and Jack then left Troy's room and went downstairs. While Jenn got Troy's medicine and ice, Jack told the guys that Troy was tired and wanted to get some sleep. When the guys left, Jack and Jenn went up to Troy's room.

"Honey, we need you to take your medicine. I also have ice for your ribs and wrist," said Jenn.

"Are my pain meds in there too?" asked Troy.

"Yeah, as well as your cough suppressant, penicillin, and other antibiotics that Dr. Robb prescribed for you."

"Okay, thanks Mom."

"Of course, Troy. I just want you to feel better. Are you feeling any better than you were?"

"Yeah, my head doesn't hurt as bad. My side doesn't hurt as bad as it did when I still had an appendix. Oddly, though my throat feels worse."

"Well, Troy, get some sleep. Maybe you'll feel better," said Jack.

"Hopefully, I hate this. Gabriella isn't even coming over to make me feel better. This sucks."

"You know, normally I would tell you to fix the language but you're right. I'm sorry you have to go through all this. It's bad enough separate but all at once…" said Jenn.

"Tell me about it. I've had laryngitis before but I still went to school but now I can't even imagine getting out of bed."

"Are you enjoying your ambidexterity?" asked Jenn.

"Yeah, how could you tell?"

"You haven't stopped writing with your left hand."

"Oh true. Night Mom, Night Dad."

"Good night, sweetheart."

"Good night, Troy," said Jack.

Troy fell asleep less than five seconds later. Before Jack and Jenn left, they cleaned up Troy's room.

"Jenn, what did Troy do wrong?" asked Jack.

"What do you mean?" asked Jenn.

"His knee, illnesses, four surgeries, falling down the steps, the whole thing with Gabriella."

"I know. I've been wondering the same thing. It's no surprise he hasn't smiled or laughed in a while. Even before the whole Gabriella thing, he was less cheery and more broody, now he's almost one hundred percent broody."

"I know. Have you seen his computer screen today? He changed it."

"What is it now?"

"A black screen. Everything he loves has been stripped away, basketball, Gabriella, musicals. They are all gone because of this. I mean he put on his basketball pants to cover the cast. Are you sure you can't do anything to get Troy and Gabriella back together?"

"No. We don't want to push it. We just have to make sure that Troy realizes that we will be here for him."

After the Boltons finished talking, they went to bed.


	16. Chapter 14

While Troy, Chad, Ryan, Zeke, and Jason were over at Troy's, Sharpay, Kelsi, Taylor, and Gabriella were at the Montez's having a Girls' Day. Like the guys, the girls woke Gabriella up at 11:00.

"Hey Gabs," said Sharpay.

"What are you doing here? I thought I told my mom that I wanted to be alone," said Gabriella.

"Your mom and Mrs. B thought it would be a good idea for both of you to be with friends today. Chad, Ryan, Zeke, and Jason are at Troy's today," said Kelsi.

"Whatever. What are we going to do here?"

"Well, we got your mom's credit card to go shopping and get manicures, pedicures, and hair cuts. We also have the Notebook DVD and some other movies. So we have a lot to do to keep your mind off Troy."

"So what are we doing here? Let's go."

The four friends then went to the mall. They first went shopping for new clothes. After clothes, they went to the beauty salon to get a manicure, pedicure, make over, and hair cut. Gabriella got her toenails painted with m&ms, her fingernails were a French manicure, her hair got light brown highlights and a shorter cut. She got a new denim skirt and tank top. Sharpay, Taylor, and Kelsi all got flowers on their toes and French manicures. They each got their hair cut and a denim skirt and tank top that matched Gabriellas. By this time, it was 6:00. They went back to the Montez household to watch the Notebook. After The Notebook, they ate some dinner with Mrs. Montez.

"Mrs. Montez, this taste really good. Thank you for making such a delicious dinner," said Taylor.

"Of course, Taylor. Thank you," said Mrs. Montez.

"So what are we doing tonight?" asked Gabriella.

"Umm, don't know. Truth or dare, maybe?" said Kelsi.

"Sounds good to me. Let's go," said Taylor.

"Aren't you guys going to wait for dessert?" asked Mrs. Montez.

"Oh yeah. Of course."

""What's for dessert, Mom?" asked Gabriella.

"Ice cream sundaes and brownies," said Maria.

"Yeah. Sounds good to me. Thanks Mom."

"Of course, hone. Oh and all yalls nails, toenails, and hair look gorgeous. Did you get new outfits for tomorrow too?"  
"Yeah. We all got gorgeous khaki skirts with different color blouses. I got red. Kels got black. Tay got blue and Shar got pink, of course."

"So you all got matching outfits?"

"Yeah, there is a spirit week in two weeks and one day is twin day. The four of us are going to be quadruplets," said Taylor.

"That's cool."

"Yeah, it was going to be the nine of us but as of right now, it's just us four," said Kelsi.

"We haven't asked the guys yet. They might still do it with us," said Sharpay.

"Yeah, I am calling Chad later to ask. Shar is going to call Zeke and Ryan. Kels is going to call Jason and Chad will talk to Troy tomorrow because he is asleep now," said Taylor.

"Awesome. That sounds really good. I will talk to yall later. Don't stay up too late. You guys have a busy day tomorrow," Maria said.

'Huh, what are we doing tomorrow?" asked Gabs.

'You'll see."

"Night Mom, Love you."

"Night Gabs, love you too. Night girls."

"Night Mrs. Montez," said the girls.

After Mrs. Montez left, the girls played truth or dare.

"I'll go first," said Kelsi. "Gabs, truth or dare?"

""Truth," said Gabriella.

"What happened with Troy?"

"Yesterday, I went over to Troy's after school. He was asleep when I got there. When I got there, I woke him up and talked to him for a little bit. Then he asked me if I would be okay if he fell asleep again because the doctors increased the dosage of his pain medication. Once he was asleep, I started drawing on his cast."

"Wait, how were you drawing on his brace?"

"Oh yeah, I never told you guys. He broke his ankle yesterday. He woke up and felt like he was going to puke. He didn't see a bucket in his room and forgot about his knee so he 'ran' to the bathroom. His knee gave out right outside his room, at the staircase and he fell down. He broke his ankle, severely bruised his ribs and wrist. He also has a mild concussion. So yeah, now he has ace bandages on his wrist and ribs and a cast from his foot to above his knee. I decorated it."

"Geez, he doesn't have the best luck lately, does he?" said Sharpay.

"Nope, so yeah getting on with the story. I was still drawing on his case when he woke up. He looked at it; he said how amazing it was."

"I'm still not seeing anything wrong," said Kelsi.

"I'm getting to it. While he was talking, the words 'I love you, Gabriella' came out. At first, he was kind of freaked then he started saying he was happy that he said it. I know this is supposed to be a happy time, but I was retarded. I ran when those four words came out of his sick mouth. I ran, I didn't say it back and I don't know why. I could hear him crying when I got out of his house. I am a horrible person. I love Troy. Why can't I just say that to him?" Gabriella asked starting to cry again.

"Gabs, Call him. Go over. Tell him. Put both of you out of your misery," said Sharpay.

"Gabs, there has got to be some reason why you ran. You aren't ready yet; you're scared, any multitude of reasons why you can't speak your adoration to Troy. It's perfectly all right to be scared to be scared. It's normal. If you aren't ready, don't rush it. Troy will wait for you," said Taylor.

"Thanks, Tay. Thanks, Shar. So how is the musical going?"

"Pretty good. It's different without you and Troy though. Okay, back to truth or dare," said Kels.

They continued to play truth or dare until about 12 am. After playing, Taylor, Kelsi, Sharpay, and Gabriella called Chad, Jason, Zeke, and Ryan respectively to tell them about the twin day.

"Hey Tay. What's up, babe?" asked Chad.

"Nothing really, just hanging out with the girls. You?" Taylor responded.

"Nothing much. Just thinking about you. What are you girls up to?"

"Planning outfits for twin day in two weeks. We want you guys to participate with us too."

"Okay, I'll do it. What are we wearing?"

"All of us girls got a khaki skirt and blouse today. You guys could wear khaki pants and the same color top as your girlfriend."

"Sounds good to me. Who else do I need to call?"

"Just Troy. I called you. Kels called Jason while Gabs and Shar called Ryan and Zeke respectively. How was he today?"

"Really quiet and reserved. Not like normal Troy. He slept a lot. He looked so upset. But I think we got his mind off of Gabriella for a little bit. How did your day go?"

'Pretty good. It was fun. We went to the mall, got new outfits, manicures, pedicures, and hair cuts."

"Oh yeah, what color shirts is everyone wearing?"

"You and I are wearing blue. Shar and Zeke get pink, of course we are talking about Shar. Kels and Jason get black and Gabs and hopefully Troy get red. Ryan can have green, I guess."

"I feel bad for Zeke."

"Same here. Hey tomorrow when you talk to Troy, can you tell him that I say hi. Thanks."

"No problem. Talk to you later. Enjoy the rest of your night and the concert tomorrow."

"Thanks. Have fun playing ball with the guys tomorrow. Make sure you talk to Troy though."

"All right, hone. Talk to you later."

"Bye Chad."

"That took a while. What were you and Chad talking about for like an hour?" asked Gabriella.

"We were on the phone for an hour?!" said Taylor shocked.

"Yeah, what were you two talking about?"

"Our days, what we are doing tomorrow, and during spirit week."

"Oh cool. What is he doing tomorrow? Playing ball with Jason and Zeke?" asked Kelsi.

"Yeah. They wanted Troy to ref but he can't now. Chad had a very good question. With Troy's cast, is he going to be able to get khaki pants on? Guys khakis are a straight cut."

"I'm sure they'll be fine but if not, he can always wear shorts," said Sharpay.

"In the middle of February?"

"Oh yeah, we'll figure something out."

"Can we stop talking about Troy, please?"

"Oh yeah sorry Gabs. We weren't even thinking. Well we've got a busy day tomorrow, so why don't we all get to bed," said Taylor.

"What are we doing tomorrow?"

"Not telling," all three said.

:Good night."

"Good night."

They all went to sleep except for Gabriella. She tried calling Troy's phone but it was not answered. Gabriella then hung up and went to sleep. The next morning, all four girls woke up at 11:00 to Mrs. Montez tell them that it was breakfast time. The girls went and ate breakfast. After breakfast, the girls went downstairs while Maria went to the store to pick up four pink shirts, a white shirt, and paint to have signed at the concert. Gabriella did not know it, but her mom and friends had pulled a few strings and bought four tickets and backstage passes to the Fall Out Boy, Jack's Mannequin concert that night. Gabriella had been talking about this concert for months and had been planning to go with Troy but she sold the tickets after Troy's accident because she didn't want to go without him but she still really wanted to go. Once Mrs. Montez got home, Sharpay, Kelsi, and Taylor asked Gabriella to go pick out a movie while they set up the surprise. When they were done, they called Gabby into the room.

"GABS, Come here," yelled Taylor.

"Coming!" replied Gabriella. "Yes?...OH MY GOD are you serious? But I sold my tickets."

"We bought new tickets for you. We got front row center. We had already had tickets. We had bought four already. We were hoping you would be able to go with us."

"What are the t-shirts for?"

"We decorate the front and the back gets signed by the bands while we are backstage with our backstage passes."

"Oh my god, you guys! Thank you! Let's decorate!"

Once the shirts were decorated, the girls headed to the concert. After the show, the girls went backstage. They got their shirts signed and talked with Fall Out Boy and Jack's Mannequin. At 1:00 am, the girls left.

"Tay, Kels, Shar, go ahead. I left my phone backstage," said Gabriella.

"Okay, Gabs. Okay, did anyone else notice Gabriella was lying?" asked Taylor.

"What do you mean,Tay?" asked Kelsi.

"Gabs' phone was in her purse. She checked it just after we left. She's doing something."

Fifteen minutes later, Gabriella returned.

"Did you find your phone?" asked Sharpay.

"Turns out I had it all along. Sorry for keeping you guys waiting," said Gabriella.

"Gabs, we knew your phone was in your purse the whole time. What did you really need to do?" asked Taylor.

"Fall Out Boy and Jack's Mannequin are Troy's favorite bands. Mom bought the white shirt for Troy so I decorated it and went back and got it signed. Troy was really bummed about not getting to go to the concert. I told them about troy, got them to sign the shirt, and they gave me two tickets to another concert when Troy is feeling better."

"That's awesome and really sweet of you. Now question is, when are you going to give it to Troy?" asked Kelsi.

"I don't know. I'll give it to him when I get my nerve up to go apologize and tell him that I love him."

"Give it some time if you need to, but we do have school in like five hours, so we should get going," said Taylor.

"Geez, true, my mom is going to freak," said Sharpay.

"Let's go. Who wants to drive?" asked Kelsi.

"I will. You guys can sleep on the way home," said Gabriella.

"Are you sure? We can stay up with you," said Taylor.

"Yeah, I need some time to think. So yeah, I am sue but thank you."

They got to their homes an hour later at 2:30am. Since it was Gabriella's car, she dropped everyone off at their homes and got home at 3:!5am. She immediately went to bed after getting home. At 6:45am, she got woken up by a phone call from Taylor.

"Hey, the girls and I are wearing out shirts. Wear yours," said Taylor.

"Okay, I was planning to anyways," said Gabriella.


	17. Chapter 15

Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is soo short. The next one will be longer I promise!

Hope you guys enjoy it!

Here it is….

The week was long and boring for both Gabriella and Troy. Troy was on bed rest and not allowed to go to Gabriella's. Gabriella had not gotten the nerve to tell Tory she loves him. Friday morning came around and Troy got out of bed to go to his doctor's appointment. His ribs and wrist were still sore, so sore it hurt to move.

"Troy, time to go," Mrs. Bolton yelled up. Mr. Bolton went up the steps to help Troy down. Once Troy was downstairs, Mrs. Bolton got the wheelchair and crutches out. Both parents helped Troy into the wheelchair and Mr. Bolton carried the crutches to the car as Mrs. Bolton rolled Troy out to the car.

Once they got to the doctor's office, Dr. Robb came over.

"Good morning Boltons. Troy, how are you feeling today?" asked Dr. Robb.

"Better. I haven't thrown up since Tuesday. My throat is slowly starting to feel better. I can at least somewhat talk now. I am still coughing a lot though. My wrist is feeling better as are my ribs," said Troy.

"Okay, the coughing and hoarse voice are normal. Side effects of bronchitis and laryngitis tend to last a little while. Did you bring your crutches with you?"

"Yes."

"I want you to try the crutches to see how it feels."

Troy fixed the ace bandage on his wrist. He then got up, with help. He picked up the crutches and started hobbling around.

"How does that feel?"

"Okay, I mean my wrist and ribs hurt a little but I can deal with it."

"Okay, after we weigh you, you will be free to go home. You may get out of bed and you are good to go back to school. I normally would need to tell you no physical activity, such as gym, but you cant do that anyways with your knee and ankle."

Troy then got up and hobbled to the scale and stepped on.

"How much do you normally weigh?"

"125 pounds."

"Right now, you are at 113 pounds but your cast weighs between 8 and 10 pounds. Make sure you are eating, but you are free to go."

"Thank you, doctor."

"Don't forget to leave your ace bandages on until the 10th of March. Your next appointment with me will be on April 4 when you can get that cast off. By the way, those drawings are great. If the girl who drew theme is the girl in the drawings, don't let her get away."

"Thank you," Troy said sadly.

The Boltons left the office and headed home.

"Mom, Dad, Can I go hang out with Chad and the gang?"

"Yeah, I guess. Be careful. Have fun."

"Bye, thanks."


	18. Chapter 16

Troy left the house. He hopped in his car and drove over to the Montez household. He knew what he was about to do was stupid and dangerous, but he needed to see Gabriella and talk to her. He hobbled over to the tree by her bedroom. Once he was by the tree, he slid his arms through the crutches and slowly started to climb the tree. It was a lot harder this time because of the cast, crutches, and ace bandages. He slowly grabbed the branch and then pulled himself up. He slipped a couple times but was able to catch himself before he fell the whole way down. By the time, he reached the balcony outside of Gabriella's room twenty minutes later, he was exhausted, cut up and bruised from countless slids, and coughing up a lung. He got his crutches under his arms and with his incredibly sore arms, slowly hobbled to door. Once at the door, he knocked to get her attention. She turned around and was completely shocked to see Troy. She ran over to the door and helped Troy onto the couch.

"How did you get up here?" asked Gabriella.

"I climbed…(cough)…the tree again. (Coughs some more)…I needed to see you. I know what I said last week scared you and for that I am sorry. I am ot sorry for what I said, however, because I really do love you, Gabriella Montez. I'm perfectly okay with giving you time. You don't need to say it right away, you can take as long as you need, because Gabby, I am never letting you go again. I miss seeing you everyday. I miss hearing your gorgeous voice. I miss staring into your beautiful eyes. But most of all, I miss you, my saving grace, love of my life, goddess. This week has been torture. I wanted to talk to you everyday, whenever I talked to any of our friends, I asked about you. God I love you Gabriella Montez and I would rather tear up both of my ACLs and break both ankles than not love you. I am willing and able to wait forever for you to be ready," Troy said very hoarsely.

"Troy, you don't have to wait," said Gabriella.

"But I will."

'No Troy, I'm trying to say I love you too Troy Bolton. I love you more than you could ever imagine. Oh yeah I have a present for you. Let me get it. Okay, remember that concert that you and I were supposed to go to?"

"The Fall Out Boy, Jack's Mannequin concert?"

"Yeah, Mom bought tickets and backstage passes for us. Tay, Shar, Kels, and I got shirts signed and then talked to them. I got you a signed shirt too. I decorated the front. The back is signed by both bands. After Tay, Shar, and Kels left the backstage area, I told the bands about how you wanted to come, your injuries, and illness. Close your eyes."

Gabriella grabbed the tickets and backstage passes. She walked back over to the couch and put them in Troy's hands.

"Ok, open."

"Oh my god, Gabriella, thank you, thank you, thank you. Ok, question, when is the concert?"

"Whenever you are feeling better, we pick a day and go."

"What if their tour is over?"

"We can call the bands' managers and get tickets to their own tour. Yeah, it won't be both together but you'll still get to see both bands. I wish you had been able to go to the concert."  
"Same here. God, I missed you. I have a gift for you too."

"This took no time at all to get. Close your eyes," Troy said as he leaned forward and kissed Gabriella. He only stopped when he had to cough.

"Are you okay? That was an awesome gift. Thanks babe."

"I'm fine, just remnants of the bronchitis and laryngitis. I asked at the doctor's office today. He said it was normal. Wow, you know what I just realized?"

"What?"

"We've only known each other for almost two months. I feel like I have known you forever. I've told you things I have never told anyone else. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Troy."

"Oh yeah, Chad wanted me to come hang out with the guys from the team at the park and ref their pick-up game. Do you want to come with me?"

"Yeah, of course I do. Tay, Shar, Kels, and Ryan were going too to watch and hang out. I was planning to go. Let's go."

"Speaking of Chad, hold on. Hey, man. I'm on my way. Later. Ok Gabs, do you want me to drive or do you want to drive?"

"I'll drive. Your car has more room, though. So we'll take your car so your leg will fit."

"Ok. Ready to surprise them?"

"YES! Let's go, freaky call back boy."

"Okay, freaky math girl."

When Troy and Gabriella got out of the car, Gabriella got Troy's crutches and Troy hopped over to grab them. After he got the crutches from Gabby, he leaned in, pushing her onto the car, and kissed her. When they were done kissing, they walked, or hobbled, down the hill to the court. The game was going on when they got there. Gabby sat right next to Taylor with Troy right next to her with his arm around her waist.

"Hey, Gabs. I see you two made up," said Taylor.

"Yep, after he climbed the tree in my backyard. Troy, we forgot to clean your cuts up. You are still bleeding a little," said Gabriella.

"Babe, I am fine. I've got you, things could not get better…well other than my knee not being messed up," said Troy.

"Gross, Troy. When did you get sappy on us, man? Did bed rest mess with your head?" asked Chad.

"No, that would be Gabriella's doing," Troy said giving Gabriella a kiss.

"Dude, you two are grossing us out."

""Seriously, guys, I have to agree with Chad. But congrats guys," said Zeke.

"Sorry guys. We'll stop," said Troy.

"But Troy, I don't want to. I have been waiting for a week to do this," said Gabriella.

"Honey, we have all weekend. Don't worry about it. I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you too, babe, or should I say Broody Babe since I hear that's all you've been doing."

"Hey, I'm sorry. What else was I supposed to do? I wasn't allowed to get out of bed. I was upset, depressed, and bored out of my mind. I was trying to figure out how to get you back."

"Well you could have come up with a safer way. You know, one that didn't require you climbing trees with a broken ankle, messed up ACL, and bruised wrist and ribs."

"Okay, back to the game, Troy. Are you going to ref for us?" asked Chad.

"Yeah, sure, no problem. No guarantees that I am going to catch everything though since I am not about to hobble up and down the court keeping an eye out for fouls. Dude, it hurts like crazy, definitely not something I want to do everyday. Something that given the choice, I would choose not to do," said Troy.

"Okay, Troy. You can just sit with the girls and Ryan."


	19. Chapter 17

Author's Note:

Wow, I definitely didn't realize a year had gone by since I last updated this story …I am soooooo sorry to keep you guys waiting this long. Thank you to everyone who has kept with this story and those who keep telling me to update, I have read your reviews. I have just been really busy with school….who knew sophomore year of college was so much harder than freshman year….it's ridiculous. Well enough of this note…let's get to the story…and don't worry I have a lot more chapters already written in my notebook that I just have to type up.

After the game, the gang all went to dinner. The rest of the weekend was spent with Gabriella, whether they were hanging out with friends or sitting in one of their rooms while Gabriella did homework and Troy rested since Jack had forgotten to get his work. Sunday evening came along and Gabriella and Troy were at the Boltons.

"What is tomorrow for Spirit Week?" Troy asked.

"Sports Day."

"Cool, so I don't have to try to get jeans over my cast. I can just wear my basketball pants. "

"yeah, I'm just going to wear my old soccer uniform from San Diego."

"Cool, I'll probably wear my Duncan jersey with my warm up pants. What are the other days?"

"Tuesday is twin day. Did Chad tell you about that?"

"Yes, I already have my polo. I had one from when we used to wear polos for away games instead of dressing up. Calm down."

"Hey, I am calm, mister. Wednesday is Wacky Wednesday. Thursday is band day, where everyone wears a shirt from their favorite band. Friday is Wildcat Spirit Day."

"So Thursday, we are wearing our Fall Out Boy/Jack's Mannequin shirts?"

"Yeah, I was planning on it. I am so happy we made up. Tuesday would have stunk."

"Yeah, it would have but enough of that. Thinking about Tuesday, I have awesome plans for us. How does a nice, fancy Baylor dinner (Zeke begged me to let him cook for us) before going to see rent at Albuquerque Theatre sound?"

"OH MY GOD, TROY! That sounds amazing. You are absolutely amazing, hone. What did I do to deserve you sweetheart? I love you, Troy Bolton! Your plans completely blow my plans out of the water."

"I love you too, baby! What were your plans?"

"Well, Freaky Callback Boy, I was thinking going out to dinner and then movies but I hadn't thought about it that much yet."

"Well Freaky Math Girl, when you aren't allowed to get out of bed, there isn't much to do except read and think. After I finished my book, I thought about only two things….you and making this date perfect."

"Baby, that's really sweet. I gotta get home. My mom wanted me to get home earlier to get some sleep. You, mister, need to get some more sleep so that you can get better."

"Can I just have one last kiss before you leave? You owe me like 7 days worth of kisses."

"Hey, that's not fair! But, of course, you can have one more kiss," Gabriella said giving him a good night kiss.

"Good night, babe. I love you so much. See you tomorrow."

"Honey, I love you too. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow as does the rest of the team. They've really missed their captain."

"Yeah, that should be so much fun," Troy said sarcastically. "What am I going to do during free period now? I can't play ball. I can't rehearse, not that I have anything to rehearse. Those are the only two things that I have ever done during free period."

"Troy, you can go watch rehearsal or have fun making fun of the guys while they practice….or you can come to our secret spot and hang out with me…your gorgeous girlfriend."

"That sounds good to me….heck that sounds really good to me. Thanks babe, you always know what to do to make me feel better. "

"Okay, Troy, I really, really have to go home now."

"I love you, Gabriella Montez."

"I love you too, Troy Bolton."


End file.
